8 Healthy Substitutions for Kids and Grown-Ups

from Parenting.com

Even if you're not a parent, you can benefit from these simple swaps. (Click the link above for the full slideshow.)

1. Replace refined grains with whole grains. At a minimum, half of all grains we eat should be whole grains. Less than 5 percent of Americans are meeting this modest goal, according to the USDA.

2. Replace DM cough medicines with honey. Researchers have done a head-to-head comparison of dextromethorphan (the cough suppressant found in “DM” cold medications) with a less expensive natural remedy: honey. The honey outperformed DM in every category, from reducing the number and severity of coughs, to improving sleep—for kids and parents.

3. Replace solid fats with oils. Both saturated fats and trans fats, hidden in many processed foods, tend to be solid at room temperature. Getting too much solid fat in the diet has been linked to chronic disease, especially diseases of the heart and blood vessels.

4. Replace air fresheners with houseplants. Certain houseplants can truly freshen the air, removing up to 90 percent of the toxins from a room. In an effort to identify plants that can filter air in sealed environments, NASA and the Associated Landscape Contractors of America tested common plants to determine the best natural filters. Among the winners? Mums, gerbera daisies, and the peace lily.

5. Replace an hour indoors with an hour outdoors. Indoors is associated not only with television and video games but also with inactivity, restlessness, and low energy. By contrast, outdoors is associated not only with sports and nature but also with movement, activity, and high energy.

6. Replace sugary drinks with flavored water. Too much sugar leads not only to ballooning weight and waist size but perhaps also to worsening blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar—even Type 2 diabetes. Revisiting what we drink is a great place to start. Try keeping a big jar with a spigot on the kitchen counter. Fill it with ice water that's been flavored with fruits, veggies, or herbs: mint, orange, lemon basil, ginger, and cucumber.

7. Replace white-rice baby cereal with real food. For decades, most babies have been given processed white-rice flour (called rice cereal) dozens of times, often before they get any other experience with food. It became the top source of food calories throughout the first year. This white starch starts to turn to sugar before it leaves a baby's mouth, and it is straight glucose by the time it's absorbed. It's no wonder that refined-flour sweets are often the biggest source of calories for the rest of childhood. Brown-rice cereal is an easy substitution.

8. Replace conventional beef with grass-fed beef. Grass-fed cattle are raised on pasture without the use of synthetic hormones, toxic pesticides, genetic modification, cloning, or antibiotics. The meat can have up to four times the healthy omega-3 fats of feedlot beef. Ask questions at the meat counter; read labels. Yes, this beef costs more, but for a country that struggles with portion size, this change can kill two birds with one stone.

Frozen fruits and veggies offer winter nutrition

From registered dietician Kristin Kirkpatrick on The Huffington Post:

Most frozen fruits and vegetables are frozen at peak ripeness so it all depends on when you are purchasing and what local farming season you are in. Summers in the northeastern part of the country offer locals an opportunity to consume abundant locally grown produce. In the winter, however, eating fresh means not only paying more, but perhaps getting fewer nutrients. That's because during the winter months, many fresh produce options have to travel hundreds and sometimes even thousands of miles to reach the grocery store. Each day of traveling equates to loss of nutrients. Thus, you're better off to purchase the frozen verities. Research shows that fruit and vegetable consumption declines in the winter but adding frozen varieties can be more a more economical way to get your daily five during those deep freeze months.

So, don't use the cold weather as an excuse to change your eating habits. Just change how you get your nutrients. I have found some frozen vegetables taste better than others. Beans, corn, spinach, broccoli and cauliflower all seem to stand up well to freezing, while softer veggies like summer squash don't do as well. Eat your vegetables, but watch out for canned veggies. They often have lots of added sodium.

And don't forget: Frozen fruit is always great added to you protein smoothie.

Kirkpatrick offers more nutrition advice in this slide show: 5 Common Food Myths Debunked.

The "Twinkie Diet" is just crazy

First of all, do any of us really consider Twinkies to be actual food? You may have heard about this professor who lost weight on a junk-food diet. He did lose weight, but one has to wonder what else he lost. And what about the people who believe this kind of hype? As this blogger points out:

Nutrition is about a lot more than calories. Plus, most folks on a junk food diet would find themselves so hungry (due to sugar crashes and lack of fiber) that they'd be hard-pressed to stick to a calorie restriction.

Just like the articles that say exercise doesn't help you lose weight, I think this "Twinkie Diet" does a disservice to all the people who want their weight loss and fitness to come easy.

Here's a headline for you: Fitness doesn't come easy. It's hard work and it takes diligence and smart choices. Junk food can be part of a healthy lifestyle but it needs to be a small part -- not the only part.

Our trainer on TV!

Video link here.

I do believe it is! Aint he handsome?

That's right, our Joe was on My Fox Colorado's (Denver-based) newscast yesterday, doing two separate segments about his pumpkin workout. Though most of us bootcampers have done some of the moves with a medicine ball, the pumpkin version is so fun and festive and fabulous. No wonder they wanted him on to talk about it.

If you want to know more about the pumpkin workout, visit pumpkinworkout.com. Send over family and friends, too, because they can buy and print out Joe's e-book about the program, which targets the abs, the butt and the thighs.

Video link here.

He also shared a great new breakfast recipe -- one that's NOT oatmeal, hooray! which I'm including below.

Way to go, Joe! I think they got your good side.

Autumn Harvest Breakfast Bars Recipe
Yield: Makes 8 bars

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup orange juice


• 1/2 cup whole dates (about 5), halved and pitted


• 1 cup whole raw almonds with skins


• 1/2 cup dried apricots


• 1/4 cup dried plums (prunes)


• 1/4 cup dried cranberries


• 1/4 teaspoon salt


• 1/4 cup raw pumpkin seeds (pepitas)


• 1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 300°. Pour orange juice over dates and let soak 5 minutes.


2. Meanwhile, place almonds, dried apricots, and dried plums in a food processor and pulse a few times until coarsely chopped. Add salt and dates with orange juice and pulse until mixture starts to stick together. Add pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds, pulsing a few times just to incorporate.


3. Using wet hands, scoop mixture onto a work surface and form into a log about 1 3/4 in. wide and 1/2 in. thick. Use your palms to flatten into a bar, and cut bar into 8 equal pieces.


4. Arrange pieces about 1 in. apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake 8 minutes. Using a heatproof spatula, turn bars over and bake another 8 minutes, or until nuts are toasted (but before fruit begins to burn). Store in an airtight container for up to 4 days.

Nutritional Information (Note: Nutritional analysis is per bar.)

Calories: 210 (56% from fat)
Protein: 6g
Fat: 13g (sat 1.4)
Carbohydrate: 22g
Fiber: 3.5g
Sodium: 76mg
Cholesterol: 0.0mg